King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (SCI)
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (SCI Version) is a version of KQ4 released for MS-Dos, Amiga, Atari ST and Tandy Color Computer 3 computers. It was released in 1988, was the first computer adventure game with a female protagonist. The player takes on the role of Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham of Daventry (KQI and KQII) and the twin sister of Gwydion/Alexander (KQIII). KQIV was also the first PC game to support a sound card. Background This chapter is the only one in the official King's Quest series where the action takes place during a specific and limited amount of time— the events of the game cover about 24 hours (8:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M.). In fact the game, much like King's Quest III, had a real time clock and time would pass even if the player wasn't solving puzzles. Some activities must be completed during the day, while other puzzles can only be solved at night, and solving certain puzzles would cause the clock to skip ahead. Story King Graham has suffered a heart attack and is on the brink of death. The good fairy Genesta contacts his daughter Rosella through the Magic Mirror and offers her assistance. Genesta then teleports Rosella to the land of Tamir, where she learns of a magical fruit that can heal her father. However, Genesta herself will be unable to teleport the princess back to Daventry, and die if her magical talisman— stolen by the evil Lolotte— is not returned. Rosella must win Lolotte's trust by performing three tasks for the evil fairy; Rosella must bring Lolotte a Unicorn, a Magic Hen and Pandora's Box so she may rule the world. Fortunately, Lolotte's son Edgar develops a crush on Rosella and will aid her when Lolotte imprisons her for the wedding. She must then defeat the evil fairy to recover the talisman and return home to Daventry. It is possible to complete KQIV without retrieving the magical fruit, but failure to do so leads to a tragic ending. As stated in the game scripts KQ4 is largely a serious game.Narrator (KQ4SCI): This is not a humorous game, Rosella! It has one of the solemn stories in the series and touches on some tough topics. There are puns but they are limited to the deaths only, and even then many of the deaths do not have puns (but are rather melancholy in nature). Versions There was two main versions of the SCI game released (and not counting the separate AGI release: King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (AGI)). The versions included the 9-disk version and the 8-disk version. The 9-disk version contained seperate artwork for both the night and day cycles, while the 8 disk version just used pallette swapping and sprite overlays to change the time of day. Copy Protection As a form of copy protection, a random word from the manual must be entered upon startup. Compilation releases provide a printable file of the possible words. Behind the scenes *The name of this sequel is probably a parody on the title of the movie The Perils of Pauline (it is one of the few KQ games that doesn't have a pun in its title, along with Quest for the Crown, and Mask of Eternity). *Assorted cuss words are acknowledged in the parser bringing up a message; "Perhaps you need to purchase a copy of Leisure Suit Larry?" *Typing "undress" or "remove clothes", will bring up the comment, "Not in front of the game players!" *Rocking the cradle will cause the cradle to rock for a few moments, and the haunted lullaby to play. *King's Quest 4 begins directly where KQ3 left off, it repeats the scene of Graham walking to the wall, grabbing his hat and tossing it to his children. It mentions that Alexander had returned to the castle shortly before, after having defeated the dragon and saving Rosella. Unlike the ending of KQ3, Graham doesn't speak to the twins as he tosses the hat.Narrator (KQ4): "With the return of his long-lost son, Alexander, and the rescue of his daughter, Rosella, from the terrible dragon, old King Graham decides it's time to pass on his adventurer's hat to younger blood." This is mentioned in the introductory text in the manual as well; "According to legend, shortly after Rosella's rescue King Graham decided it was time to pass on his adventurer's cap. Gathering in his wife and two children, the King offered a grateful smile upwards, for each member of his family had given him great pride. Gazing down at his children, he couldn't help but see the glint of spirited valor in their eyes. Knowing the future of his kingdom would rest soundly in the hands of its future heir, he slowly lifted his hands to display the infamous adventurer's cap." **Also a trivial continuity error is where the cap is when Graham picks it up. At the end of King's Quest III, the cap is hanging on the wall. At the beginning of King's Quest IV, it is on a table next to the throne. This table is also not seen in the throne room at the end of KQ3. AGI vs. SCi *See King's Quest IV; The Perils of Rosella (AGI) King's Quest 4 was originally designed with two seperate engines in both the AGI and SCI engines. The AGI engine was used in all earlier Sierra adventure games, the SCI in all later ones. The AGI version was made because Sierra supposed that contemporary low-end systems would be unable to run the SCI version and would require a "lighter" version of the game. However, sales figures proved them wrong and the AGI version was swiftly discontinued. Because of its rarity, the AGI version could be considered a collector's item. The Apple II version had improved sound compared to the PC AGI version Links * Original Soundtrack Video Walkthrough by Kawaii Games King's Quest IV: The Perils Of Rosella Gameplay Walkthrough 230 Points Category:King's Quest Games Category:KQ4 Category:Games Category:Original Canon